The Good News

This morning Kimball's sweet Grandma Smith passed away. She has always lived far away so The boys and I have only met her once. When I told them the news they were sad. They remembered meeting her last year at our house when she came through town. You can read more about that HERE.

After I told them, Jaxon said "Well, the good news is now she can meet Grandpa James in heaven. Again and again and again." I assured him the good news is now she has a perfect memory and she is free from any pain. They were very glad to know that, but being Washburn's they couldn't help but chuckle at his comment.

Kade had a great idea, "Maybe we should make cupcakes for our good news." So we made these sweet, little cupcakes and thought of our sweet, little Grandma Smith.

Sleepless In Arizona

Poor Sophia had a few night terrors last week and has had a heck of a time getting over them. She has been playing musical beds for a week and a half now. It started with her waking at about 3:30 am screaming bloody murder, shaking, sweating and screaming for Mommy. Ever since then her room is the devil and she wants nothing to do with it. We've purchased night lights, played soothing music, replaced her lost bunny for a look a like, bought her a Glow Worm, and put more toys and books in her room. We've tried letting her cry it out which only produces an exhausted, sad, swollen eyed girl who doesn't care how many hours you make her cry she's not giving in. Kimball switched her crib into a toddler bed, we moved the boys bed room across the hall from her. Last Sunday I even took her to the mini clinic to see if she had an ear infection or something, within just 2 minutes the doctor said it was obviously just night terrors and was kind enough to not make me pay. An ear infection would have been easier to treat!

Now I've always prided myself on training good sleepers. You know, babies that sleep in their crib the very first night, who sleep through the night at 8 weeks, and take really good naps. The kind of kids that go to bed when they're told and don't throw fits and don't get up asking for water every 5 minutes, but as always pride is the kiss of death.

All she wants to do is sleep downstairs in the guest room. NO one sleeps downstairs and she can't just be down there all by herself. I've slept in their with her and so has Jaxon, but we want to sleep in our own beds. Oh what to do? My new blog friend over at The Long Road to China is having similar problems and is trying the monster spray (water in a bottle), but I think Sophia is too young for that. The last thing I can think of is to move one of the guest beds up to her room and see if she'll go for it. I don't think she will since she's obviously scared of her room not her bed (even in the day), but it's worth a try. If anyone can think of something I haven't, please let me know.

loosin' it

Saturday we took the kids on a field trip. We boarded the new Tram in Mesa and rode it to downtown Phoenix, where we stopped at The Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch followed by another stop at a Tram Station where Kimball had done a bunch of neat masonry work. Kade has been learning about different forms of transportation so this was great fun for him.

It was super crowded on the way back. Poor Kimball had to stand and hold Sophia for about 30 minutes before getting a seat. We were packed in like sardines. I had to stand for the full 45 minutes but I was smart for once and wore my walking shoes. This was the weekend for the PF Chang's Rock n' Roll marathon and the Cardinals playoff game (which I'll discuss more later), and a huge expo. Needless to say, it was the wrong weekend to take the Tram downtown. We still had a great day.

Kimball was excited to show us his this neat masonry job he did. He worked for several months with some artists out of California (they should have hired Arizona artists but WHATEVER) and the project turned out really nice. It runs up and down a long stretch on Central Ave. It' cooler in person, with some neat glass pieces and metal cutouts as well.

This was an inexpensive field trip and the kids loved it. The tram is only $2.50 for an all day pass and some guy gave us 3 free, of course when we were done with ours we paid it forward too.

Sophia in her first curlers. Kade thinks she looks like a little old lady.

Now for a man who doesn't just talk the talk but who walk's the walk...Kurt Warner. How awesome is it that the Cardinals have made it to the Super Bowl??? Pretty awesome especially because Kurt Warner is such a deserving man. Click HERE to view some of the charitable things he's up to, he is a family man and a true Christian. Love this guy, he rocked at the 2000 Super Bowl and he's going to do it again!


Now if I play my cards right, I may get a signed jersey from this guy. Larry Fitzgerald did amazing yesterday. Kimball is currently doing a big masonry project at his new home here in Arizona. He hasn't been to the job site yet but maybe after the big day's over, he'll come around...hopefully!

Book Club - The Scarlett Letter

I recently hosted book club at my house. We read the classic The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne. This book got me thinking and wondering if it's better to suffer for a sin in silence, letting the guilt be your punishment or is it worse to have it out in the open for all to judge and mock you?

We are now reading The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, it should be good...I'm looking forward to February's book club night. It's fun to get together with the ladies and have some adult time. Taking time out for myself is a must now that I'm a homeschooling mom. Some days I want to move to a remote island where no one can find me but doing things like book club and daily exercise are making all the difference.

Thanks to Alli for taking a picture of this beautiful red velvet cake with her phone. I didn't have my camera on me and hadn't thought of it. It was pretty yummy, and no I didn't make it...I wish.

Football, Public Transportation & Curls

Saturday we took the kids on a field trip. We boarded the new Tram in Mesa and rode it to downtown Phoenix, where we stopped at The Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch followed by another stop at a Tram Station where Kimball had done a bunch of neat masonry work. Kade has been learning about different forms of transportation so this was great fun for him.

It was super crowded on the way back. Poor Kimball had to stand and hold Sophia for about 30 minutes before getting a seat. We were packed in like sardines. I had to stand for the full 45 minutes but I was smart for once and wore my walking shoes. This was the weekend for the PF Chang's Rock n' Roll marathon and the Cardinals playoff game (which I'll discuss more later), and a huge expo. Needless to say, it was the wrong weekend to take the Tram downtown. We still had a great day.

Kimball was excited to show us his this neat masonry job he did. He worked for several months with some artists out of California (they should have hired Arizona artists but WHATEVER) and the project turned out really nice. It runs up and down a long stretch on Central Ave. It' cooler in person, with some neat glass pieces and metal cutouts as well.

This was an inexpensive field trip and the kids loved it. The tram is only $2.50 for an all day pass and some guy gave us 3 free, of course when we were done with ours we paid it forward too.

Sophia in her first curlers. Kade thinks she looks like a little old lady.

Now for a man who doesn't just talk the talk but who walk's the walk...Kurt Warner. How awesome is it that the Cardinals have made it to the Super Bowl??? Pretty awesome especially because Kurt Warner is such a deserving man. Click HERE to view some of the charitable things he's up to, he is a family man and a true Christian. Love this guy, he rocked at the 2000 Super Bowl and he's going to do it again!


Now if I play my cards right, I may get a signed jersey from this guy. Larry Fitzgerald did amazing yesterday. Kimball is currently doing a big masonry project at his new home here in Arizona. He hasn't been to the job site yet but maybe after the big day's over, he'll come around...hopefully!

Back To Basics

Does homeschooling have to be expensive? No! Though I spent more than I probably should have on books and curriculum, it was mostly out of excitement which I hear is not uncommon your first year. There are many ways to home school without it busting your budget. With the Internet, resources are endless. Just type in free home school or free learning tools and many, many come up. I have shared the spellingcity.com and we all know there is the library which is fabulous for books, books on cd and movies. The library apparently has Rosetta Stone Foreign Language resources for free. Don't forget about ProjectGutenberg.org where you can read or print classic books for all ages at no cost. I have a few links on my side bar as well. Used book stores are also great. Here in Arizona there is Bookman's which is a huge used book store, I was able to find a ton of books on my (Well Trained Mind reading list) for super cheap and in great condition. Ambelside Online.org is a great web site offering curriculum based on the Charlotte Mason method. There is Simply Charlotte Mason.com that has a lot of free resources as well.

The big two I know of here in Arizona are Connections Academy and Eagleridge Enrichment Program. These two have online programs or traditional (books/packets) programs that you can do at home. They are funded by the state so I think Aims Testing is required each spring but everything is free and I know with Connections Academy they provide the computer, Internet service etc. all free. Eagleridge also has the enrichment program for homeschoolers where the children go to the school a day or two a week depending on your preference. I know this is not too orderly but I'm in a hurry, I just want to make sure anyone interested in homeschooling knows that it can be done at little or no cost. I'm affraid I may have given the impression that it has to be expensive. A lot of it depends on what method you choose, but I'm sure with any method, if you try to be frugile you can. Buying stuff used on Amazon, Craigslist etc, is a great way to go.
Do you need a school room? No! It's not necessary. We have one, but again I got excited and wanted to make it fun. It really only gets used once in a while and mainly is a great place to keep all our school stuff. We spend most of the time lounging on our couches or at the kitchen table. I figured we would but if you know me, I get 'gung ho' about things and tend to go overboard.
If you are a home school family and think of any I've left out (which there's probably a lot) please leave a comment as to what it is or what works for you.